Planning a vacation or figuring out which destination would be best for your next trip can be stressful, which is why there are travel apps to help you figure all that out. Getting a travel SIM card is always best when going on a trip abroad.
This article takes you through the top 10 most downloaded travel apps worldwide, the number of downloads and their convenience when planning for the your next biggest trip.
Let’s begin.
Further reading:
1. Google maps
Google Maps is the most downloaded travel app worldwide with 106 million downloads. Millions of travellers use the app to find businesses, get real-time driving, walk, and for local transport navigation. Google Maps is a web-based service that provides detailed information about geographical regions and sites around the world.
You can also describe it as a free online map from Google because you can use it to get step-by-step directions, find information about local businesses and many more. It offers directions for drivers, bikers, walkers, and users of public transportation who want to take a trip from one specific location to another.
Google maps generates revenue from a few means, which are, local ads that businesses post in order to attract customers and custom maps using APIs that businesses can use for a variety of reasons that Google charges a price for. $200 monthly is enough to support almost all Google maps users’ needs while using the app. To download google maps click here.
2. Uber
Uber is ranked at second place of the most downloaded travel apps with 94 million downloads. Uber is a ride-hailing company that offers the Uber mobile app, which you can use to submit a trip request that is automatically sent to an Uber driver near to you, alerting the driver to your location.
The driver that accepts will then come and pick you up and drive you to your requested destination where the Uber app automatically figures out the navigational route for the driver.
With regards to its business model, Uber has a two sided market place, a platform business model that connects drivers and riders, with an interface that has elements of gamification, that makes it easy for two sides to connect and transact. It makes money by collecting fees from the platform’s gross bookings.
Uber prices differ depending on where you are and where you are going. In South Africa, you can get charged R8 per km, and about $18 – $19 for a 20-minute ride in America. To download Uber, press here.
3. Booking.com
Booking.com is an online travel agency with 63 million downloads for making reservations and other travel products. It is a platform created for hotels and their potential clients to meet. Booking.com makes money through charging hotels for selling their inventories.
Its business model is selling a hotel room to a customer then receive commission from that. Booking.com is available in 43 languages and offers more than 28 million reported accommodation listings. The Booking.com app uses a commission based platform to charge fees.
The host pays a certain percentage of the reservation every time a reservation is made through the Booking.com app. It takes 15% off of the top of your charged rent for all confirmed bookings and all non-refundable reservations. That means for each apartment you rent for $100 per night, you will owe Booking.com $15. To download booking.com, press here.
4. Google earth
Google Earth is a geographic browser that accesses satellite and aerial imagery, topography, ocean bathymetry, and other geographic data over the internet. It has 57 million downloads and enables individuals to create, store, view, and interact with data as it relates to location and allows users to see cities and landscapes from various angles.
Google Earth provides search capabilities and the ability to pan, zoom, rotate, and tilt the view of the Earth. It is available for several operating systems, namely: Windows, MacOS, Ubuntu/Fedora, and Linux. It is mostly used by scientists.
The Google Earth pro is priced $399/year is now available for free, so get yours now and enjoy the benefits. With regards to its business model, Google Earth makes money by serving ads alongside search results for businesses or locations and selling annual licenses for a professional and enterprise version of the application. To download Google Earth, press here.
5. Airbnb
Airbnb was started in 2008 by Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia. With about 44 million downloads, Airbnb is an online marketplace that connects people who want to rent out their homes with people who are looking for accommodations in specific areas. It has in excess of six million listings, covering more than 100,000 cities and towns and 220-plus countries worldwide.
It allows property owners rent out their houses to travellers looking for a place to stay where travellers can rent a space for multiple people to share, a shared space with private rooms, or the entire property for themselves. Airbnb is mostly used by tourists.
Airbnb business model is an aggregator business model just like Uber. Its biggest assets are the individuals and the hosts who are the key components in the Airbnb process. Airbnb takes a percentage commission on the booking amount and charges 3% transaction costs to guests for every booking they make. To download Airbnb, click here.
6. DiDi
DiDi Global is the world’s leading mobility technology platform with 27 million downloads which offers a wide range of app-based services across markets including Asia-Pacific, Latin America and Africa. The services include ride hailing, taxi hailing, chauffeur, hitch as well as auto solutions, food delivery, intra-city freight and financial services.
DiDi provides car owners, drivers and delivery partners with flexible work and income opportunities. DiDi currently partners with more than 500 taxi companies in China, Japan and Brazil. DiDi is charged at a base fare of R15 and a distance rate of R10 per km. The service competes with Uber’s normal price, which starts from R8/km. To download DiDi, press here.
7. Bolt
Bolt is a mobility company that offers vehicle for hire, micro-mobility, car-sharing, and food delivery services operating in over 400 cities in over 45 countries. Bolt is a transportation app used for taking fast and affordable e-scooter rides. It is a fast and affordable way to ride.
Bolt’s business model is based on the marketplace. It earns money through commissions, e-scooters, automobile rentals, software subscriptions, and franchising agreements. Bolt charges a 15% to 20% commission from the final price per order depending on the city.
Data states that over 200 companies use Bolt. The companies using Bolt are most often found in United States and in the Retail industry. Bolt is most often used by companies with 10-50 employees and 1M-10M dollars in revenue. To download bold, press here.
8. Lyft
Lyft is an American transport service support provider with about 23.3 million downloads, that develops markets, and operates a mobile app, offering ride-hailing, vehicles for hire, motorized scooters, a bicycle-sharing system, rental cars, and food delivery.
Lyft is like Uber as it is a ridesharing app which connects passengers looking for a ride with drivers who have a car. When you install the Lyft app on your smartphone, and creating an account, you can request a ride. For every ride, Lyft keeps 20% of the price paid by the rider and the rest is paid out to the driver. Out of this 20%, the company has to pay out local taxes, as applicable, and the rest is its revenue.
Lyft business model depends upon the base charge, the distance covered, the per-minute charges, the per-mile cost, time of day, ride type, the chosen route, number of available drivers, current demand for rides, and any local fees or surcharges.
The service fee is a standard $1.90 surcharge per ride for all Lyft rides, no matter what type of car you book or where you’re located. About 45% of adults aged 18 to 29 say they use ride-sharing services such as Lyft, whereas this drops to 36% among those 30 to 49 years old, 23% of those aged 50 to 64 and 13% of those aged 65 or older. To download Lyft, click here.
9. Where is my Train
“Where is my Train” is a train app that displays live train status and up-to-date schedules. It has 23.1 million downloads and the app can function offline without needing Internet or GPS.
Where is My Train’s mobile app has recorded more than 10 million downloads and uses information from the cell tower instead of the internet or GPS to locate trains in real time. Google has just acquired the team behind Where Is My Train app for an estimated $30-40 million (Rs. 280 crore).
You also get to select the train after selecting your source and destination on the app. “Where is my Train” provides real-time information on the status of trains. It is said to be one of the highest rated travel apps in India. To download “Where is my Train”, press here.
10. Grab
The Grab app assigns taxis and private hire cars to nearby commuters through a location-sharing system. It has 23 million downloads worldwide .It also has a food delivery service GrabFood and on-demand delivery services GrabExpress, GrabMart and GrabAssistant.
Grab is Southeast Asia’s leading super app which offers essential everyday services to over 670 million people across Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam and many more. Grab’s business model is extremely straightforward. Grab’s technology connects passengers in need of a trip with drivers willing to take them, and Grab will eventually receive a share of the fees.
Grab calculates its prices by the distance covered between your pickup and drop off locations, based on real-time traffic condition at the time of booking. The services include Deliveries (food, groceries, packages), Mobility (4-wheel, 3-wheel, 2-wheel), Financial Services (lending, insurance, cashless payments and wealth management), Enterprise and many more. To download Grab, click here.
Most popular travel apps comparison table
| Hopper | -Best for finding cheap flights. -Best travel app for flights. |
| TripIt | -Best travel planner app. -organizes all of your itineraries in one place. -Available for both Android and iPhone. |
| Roadtrippers | -Best for road trips. -Allows you to map your route with up to 7 waypoints free of charge. -A Roadtrippers Plus account for $29.99 per year lets you download maps offline. |
| Skyscanner | -Best for unexpected destinations. -Allows you to look for surprising destinations. |
| Booking.com | -Best for accommodation bookings. -Allows you to book accommodations, flights, car rentals, airport taxis, tours, and attractions. |
| Airbnb | -Best for non-hotel lodgers. -The app lets you filter through photos and reviews, as well as sort by amenities. |
| Kayak | -Best for filtering airlines and hotels. -Allows you to filter flight options based on your airline preference and departure times. -The app is available on iOS and Google Play. |
| Waze | -Best for navigating traffic. -Makes it easy for you to avoid congestion, blocked roads, police, accidents or other hazards that might increase your driving time. |
| Timeshifter | -Best for preventing jet lag. -Developed by scientists. -The jet lag plan is free. |
| Hotels.com | -Best for searching and booking for accommodation. -The site also has vacation homes, bed and breakfasts, motels, and apartments you can explore. |
Further reading: What are travel apps and why every tourist needs them
Travel apps FAQs
1. What is the most used travel app?
The most used travel app is Googles maps.
2. Which travel apps is the cheapest.
The cheapest travel apps are Airbnb, Google trips, Kayak and many more.
3. What is a travel app?
A travel app help users to research destinations, find good flight and accommodation deals, and book services.
4. Why do people use travel apps?
People use travel apps to avoid extensive long-term planning which allows them to be as spontaneous.
5. What should a travel app have?
A travel app should have a geo tracking device, weather or climate forecasting, travel itinerary generator and many more.
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